United States

Romney undecided over PTC phase out

CANADA: A proxy for presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said the Republican wants to end the production tax credit (PTC) for wind energy projects, but is still deciding how quickly it should be phased out.

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney

Linda Gillespie Stuntz, a Washington lawyer and deputy secretary of energy under former president George H.W. Bush, represented Romney at an energy debate Wednesday. She said that, in principle, Romney is opposed to federal policies that favor some energy sources over others.

"He thinks that this is an illustration of one that has probably outlived its usefulness, but as to how it should be precisely would down — whether it should be a one-year [phase-out], whether it should be a longer period — he hasn’t come completely to ground on that," said Stuntz, quoted on political news website, The Hill.

With most in the US wind industry expecting an extension of the soon-to-expire PTC to wait until after the November elections, Romney’s stance could be key to the credit’s future.

President Barack Obama is calling on Congress to renew the PTC now. His surrogate, Stanford University professor Dan Reicher, said ending federal support of renewable energy would undermine efforts to wean the US off its dependence on foreign oil.

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